Sarasota Opera offers a powerful "Pagliacci"

   “Pagliacci” has a reputation as a short opera. In fact,  it’s usually presented with another opera on the same program.
    The current Sarasota Opera production presents “Pagliacci” by itself. It’s a thoroughly satisfying experience; the addition of another piece wouldn’t make the evening any more worthwhile.
    “Pagliacci" itself is compact rather than short – its action and its moods move swiftly, and it ends at the moment of its dramatic climax. In terms of length, this production, including intermission, runs about the same as a typical movie or play.

   The Sarasota Opera production is gorgeously designed and movingly acted and sung.

  "Pagliacci" photo  by Rod Millington

   The program opens with two short pieces performed by the Sarasota Orchestra. It’s a perfect appetizer for the feast ahead. The orchestra performs two intermezzi by Pietro Mascagni. He’s the composer of “Cavallera Rusticana,” the short opera most often paired with “Pagliacci.”
    Both the pieces, which aren’t often played outside of the context of their own operas, are poignantly lovely, and the Sarasota Orchestra, conducted by the opera’s artistic director Victor DeRenzi, performs them impeccably.
    After a prologue, sung in front of the curtain, the audience gets it first look at David P. Gordon’s set. It’s very pretty, complex and functional -- a stage on which the play-within-the opera is performed, an open space where the play’s audience gathers, and landscape features where the story of romance and betrayal plays out, all in one set.
    There are no weak links in the large cast – which includes members of the Sarasota Youth Opera as part of the chorus – but standouts include MIchael Robert Hendrick as Canio (who becomes Pagliaccio in the play) and Marco Nistico as Tonio, the hunchback.

   That story has to do with a traveling theater troupe that arrives in an Italian village to perform a comedy about a clown (Pagliaccio). Just before the show, Tonio finds out that Canio’s wife Nedda is betraying him with a local man.
    The devastated Canio realizes he must go on stage and portray a clown. But during the play parallels Canio’s life, sending him into a murderous rage. The audience only gradually realizes that they are no longer watching a play. The anguished Canio sings the legendary closing line, “The comedy is finished” – as the curtain closes. Stephanie Sundine’s direction is remarkably fluid, especially given the size of the cast and he complexity of the single set. Howard Tsvi Kaplan’s costumes are beautifully colorful.

   The story is terse and powerful, the music is melodic and familiar (Canio’s at the end of act one is as famous as any piece of opera music ever written), and this production serves the music and the story in a wonderful way. It’s a great season-opened for the Sarasota Opera.
    It runs though Nov. 15 at the Sarasota Opera, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. Curtain is at  8 p.m. 11 and 13 and 1:30 p.m. Nov. 15. Tickets run $19-$125. Call 941-366-8450 or go to sarasotaopera.org.

WSMR broadcasts live from Sarasota Music Festival

   You can experience the Sarasota Music Festival tonight without leaving your home.

Russell Gant

   Radio station Classical WSMR (89.1 or 103.9 on the dial, depending on where you live ) will broadcast this evening's concert live from the Sarasota Opera House. It starts at 8 p.m.
   Russell Gant, the classical music director of WUSF Public Media (of which WSMR is a part) will be on stage interviewing performers during the Friday Festival Concert.
   The concert's called “Love,” and the program explores the various facets of love, with music by Glinka ("Trio Pathetique"), Richard Strauss ("Sextet from Capriccio") and Brahms ("Horn Trio in E-flat Major).
   This year marks the 50th anniversary of both WUSF and the Sarasota Music Festival.
  If you're not near a radio this evening, you can listen to the concert at wsmr.org.
  And if you prefer to attend the concert in person, tickets are $25, $32 and $40. The Sarasota Opera House is at 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. For more information, go to sarasotaorchestra.org/festival. Read my feature story on the festival in Sunday's A&E section in the Bradenton Herald.

Sarasota Ballet offers a beautiful, original "Nutcracker."

   Going to see an unfamiliar version of "The Nutcracker" is  a bit of crap shoot. There are many more bad stagings of the classic ballet than good ones, and attempts to "reimagine" it fail much more often than they succeed.
   That makes the experience of the Sarasota Ballet's "John Ringling's Circus Nutcracker" all the more rewarding. Its ideas are interesting and its execution is gorgeous.
   This is the second year for this "Nutcracker," which so far has not been performed anywhere else in the world. There are two more performances today (Saturday, Dec. 21).
   The story has been moved to New York City in the 1930s, where art deco architecture and Depression-era fashion offer a different visual palette than we're used to to seeing in "The Nutcracker." The characters John Ringling and his family, shortly after the death of Mable Ringling.

A scene from ""The Nutcracker"

   The translation works, and the story fits the familiar E.T.A. Hoffman outline without much a stretch.
   The choreography by Matthew Hart is tasteful and clever -- he incorporates ballroom dance styles of the era and Michael Jackson-esque pseudo-gangster reference into the ballet -- and the sets and costumes by Peter Doherty are lovely.
   Performances from the entire cast, from principals all the way through to the very young students dancers, are confident and meticulous. And the Sarasota Orchestra plays Tchaikovsky's music -- perhaps the most familiar classical music of all time -- beautifully.
   Given all that's great about this staging, it feels odd to say that its curtain is a major flaw. But before both act one and act two, the audience has to look at a curtain dominated  garish, amateurish and just plain ugly image of the Nutcracker's face It serves an interesting function in the opening of each act, and it's easy to see why someone thought it would work, but since the audience has to look at something so creepy for 20 to 30 minutes, it's a significant scar on a production that's otherwise pristine.
   Once the curtain has been raised, though, this "Nutcracker" is a marvelous thing to see and hear.
   Remaining shows are at 2  and 8 p.m. today, at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets are $15-$100. call 941-359-0099 ext. 101 or go to www.sarasotaballet.org.

Sarasota Ballet scores with Balanchine, Ashton, Britten

   It was a concert designed to have something for everybody. And all three dances on the Sarasota Ballet's program earned enthusiastic applause from the audience, so all three obviously had appeal.
   The first piece, Balanchine's "Serenade," set to Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings," was a luminescent piece of pure classical dance, with Balanchine's typical musicality matched by the fluidity of the dancers. A couple of humorous touches -- a dancer purposely falls on her face at one point -- somehow enhance he piece transcendent beauty.

"Illuminations" (1950)

   The ballet, accompanied by the Sarasota Orchestra, next celebrated Benjamin Britten's 100 the birthday with Ashton's "Illuminations," with music by Britten and lyrics taken from Rimbaud poems. It's a wonderfully surreal narrative piece of comedy and drama. It would be tempting to call it Felliniesque, except that Ashton created it in1950, before Fellini as influential.
   The final piece, Balanchine's "Who Cares?," just didn't seem to fit. It's set to a series of 15 Gershwin songs, and the pop flavor of the music and the dance felt at odds with the sublime pleasures of the first two works.
   There were some fine moments of dance, though, especially in several pas de deux, and the piece was an undeniable crowd-pleaser.
   The orchestra, conducted by Ormsby Wilkins, sound gorgeous throughout the evening, and seemed as comfortable with Gershwin as with Britten.
   There are two more performances, at 2 and 8 p.m. today (Saturday, Nov 23) at the Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. Tickets are $33.25-$100. Call 941-359.0099, ext.101 or go to www.sarasotaballet.org.





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Sarasota Orchestra names Anu Tali music director

   After an 18-month search, the Sarasota Orchestra has named Anu Tali as its new music director.
She's the fifth music director in the orchestra's history, and the first woman to hold that position.
   Tali's 40 years old. She was born in Estonia, and trained at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. In 1997, she co-founded the Nordic Symphony Orchestra (NSO) with her twin sister Kadri. Tali earned her first international recognition in 2003 with the NSO’s debut album, "Swan Flight." That same year she was presented with The Cultural Award of Estonia.
   Local audiences may recall her two appearances as guest conductor with the Sarasota

Anu Tali

Orchestra. The first was in 2011, and the second this past January, when she led the orchestra in Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet."
   Orchestra president and CEO Joseph McKenna said Tali's concerts were among the best-attended and best-received in the history of the Sarasota Orchestra.
   As music director, she'll set the tone, literally and figuratively, for the orchestra. Among other duties, she'll oversee everything from the selections of seasons to the addition of new musicians. and will be the primary conductor of the orchestra's masterworks season.
McKenna praised Tali for her "energy and charisma."
   “We are confident Anu will enhance and invigorate the way people perceive live classical music in our region, build on our past successes and attract new audiences to our great Orchestra,” McKenna said.
   Tali’s first concerts as music director will be November 8 – 10,  when the orchestra opens the masterworks season. She will also conduct the Masterworks Feb. 20 – 23. Carlos Prieto, who was originally scheduled for that slot, will be a guest conductor in a future season.

Sarasota Bradenton airport hosts orchestral flash mob

Andrew Lane led the flash mob at SRQ

  In recent weeks both Sarasota Bradenton International Airport and Tampa International Airport transformed themselves into ad hoc concert venues.
   On Jan. 21, a flash mob from the Sarasota Orchestra surprised passengers at the the Sarasota Bradenton Airport. Thirty-two musicians, plus principal pops conductor Andrew Lane, converged and performed Bizet’s "Danse Boheme." Lane was dressed as a pilot, two musicians were dressed as flight attendants and the other musicians were in street clothes so they fit in with the crowd at the airport until they started playing.
   It was, of course, all set up in advance with airport officials.
   TIA started its Friday Flight music series late last year, with local bands of all different genres performing one Friday each month, starting at 5:30 p.m., on the third floor of the main terminal between airsides A and C. Next up is a band called the Irish Buskers, along with Irish dancing demonstrations, on March 8 -- an early St. Patty's Day celebration.

UPDATED 2/15: Maestro Leif Bjaland leaving Sarasota Orchestra

UPDATED 2/15: Bjaland story, with more details than blog post below, running on home-site and in today's Herald. 

Sarasota Orchestra Artistic Director and Conductor Leif Bjaland announced today that next season will be his final with the organization. 

This 2011-12 season marks Bjaland's 15th with Sarasota Orchestra and final of his current three-year contract. 

"I have learned that personal growth often requires one to make changes and this belief has prompted me to embrace a new chapter in my life," he said in a signed letter issued by the Sarasota Orchestra.

The Sarasota Orchestra will begin its transition next season with a number of guest conductors, expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

“It has been a privilege to work with such exceptional musicians and our dedicated staff," Bjaland said. "Most of all, I cherish the friendships I have made in this community and special moments we have shared during concerts.”

A search committee will be selected by the Sarasota Orchestra Board of Directors in the coming months. One-third of the committee will be made up of musicians as defined by the collective bargaining agreement with the musicians union. 
 

“What (Bjaland) has accomplished here over the last decade and a half is nothing short of remarkable," said Sarasota Orchestra Board Chair Marsha Panuce in a statement. "The orchestra plays beautifully. I’m particularly pleased and grateful that (Bjaland) will play a role next season in maintaining high artistic standards and ensuring that the organization transitions smoothly to new leadership.”

Bjaland discussing "Masterworks Espana"

Multi-million dollar violin comes to Sarasota

Vadim Gluzman and his famous Strad

Rockers drool over vintage Fender Stratocasters and Gibson Les Pauls.

Those beautiful guitars built last century sell for as much as maybe $200,000.

But they don't quite compare with the history and monetary value of what world-class violinist Vadim Gluzman will play this weekend when he joins the Sarasota Orchestra for the organization's Masterworks: Virtuoso program.

Gluzman's Stradivarius was built in 1690.

It could be worth as much as $8 million.

For more information about the famous fiddle (and the man who plays it) read "Masterworks opens with world-class violinist." 

Vadim Gluzman performing Brahms' violin concerto